SCAM 1992 2021(online version)

A phishing email regularly seems to come from an association that you know and trust, similar to a bank or monetary organization, requesting that you enter your secret key on a phony duplicate of the site's login page.

2. Lottery, sweepstakes and competition scams

*Sign*

Imagine you’re outside a 75 bedroom mansion, sitting out in the garden, sipping orange juice while your personal chef cooks breakfast for you inside. You tell your kids how you received an email for mr.martinzxcvbnbvcbx399@gmail.com from

Except it didn’t. You almost lost all your money.

READ CAREFULLY.

Before I go to give a very obvious explanation of what this scam is, here are some tips to know if an unknown email is a scam (Sorry kids we deal with probabilities these days – you can’t be sure of anything).

1. You can’t win a lottery without contesting in one. You would have needed to buy a ticket or given some application before hand to be considered. There’s no way you can randomly win.

2. If the email asks for some fees to be paid before receiving a prize, it screams SCAM. They always ask victims to give some amount for a prize but rememebr these fees are usually cut from the prize money on retrieval/

3. Most lotteries and competitions come from certified emails such as xyz@americanlottery.org, xyz@institueofmin.com. These are just examples. Examples of something fake would be xyz@hotmail.com, xyz@gmail.com, xyz@yahoo.com etc. They always use free accounts.

4. Most non-certified organisation emails will contain grammatical or/and spelling mistakes.

5. Inconsistencies with currency mentioned in the email and the place from where the email originates from.

6. 
   

This kind of scam happens when you receive an email, letter or text message from an overseas lottery or sweepstakes company arrives from out of nowhere. Scammers typically claim that you need to pay fees or taxes before your winnings or prize can be released. 

You may also have to call or text a premium rate phone number to claim your prize. 

3. Dating and romance scams

Okay. We get it. You’re lonely on Valentine’s day or you’re maybe sick of seeing those couple near you while you sit in the corner with your cheeseburger.

But listen to what Jamie Fox said in a song with Kanye West “Gold Digger” –

“She take my money when I'm in need

Yeah, she's a triflin' friend indeed

Oh, she's a gold digger

Way over town that digs on me”

Although Jamie fox mentions “She”, we know that the men, women and robots are all responsive towards Money.

This brings us to one of the most prominent scams on the internet which are dating and romance scams.

Scammers on the internet create fake profiles on legitimate dating websites and even on facebook to lure individuals into a “Companionship”. They use pictures of real people or models, who are by the way not them, and convince you to chat.

Once these scammers gain your trust, through sweet words and funny memes, they try to convince you to send pictures of yourself or even information such as bank details and email information. They may even use sympathy and pity as tools to gain your attention. This could be by creating false stories –

“I need $400 for a plane ticket to come meet you in New Jersey, my love”.

And they never do.

“My grandma Bob in Cancun is suffering from cancer, please help a dear friend. She needs $14000 worth Bitcoin in her account.”

Grandma and Bitcoin?

“I am currently in a country called Yasidsjdi and we’re in deep trouble. Please help me by sending me $1000000 and your mother’s maiden name.”

I think the map forgot to include a country.

Theses scammers will try to develop a strong relationship with you and then ask for money to help cover costs associated with illness, injury, travel or a family crisis. They will use attractive fake profile pictures, emotions to guilt trip you into traps that you should be very careful to avoid. They can even court you for months in order to get you in their den. Be careful out there folks!

4. Job, employment and business scams

These fraudsters include offers to work at home or set up and put resources into a business opportunity. Tricksters guarantee some work, significant pay, or huge venture return following beginning forthright instalments.

These instalments might be for a strategy, instructional class, programming, outfits, trusted status, expenses or charges.

These tricks are regularly advanced through spam email or ads in notable classifieds, including sites.

5. Charity and medical scams

Similar to other scams, the scammers here try to appeal to your emotions to gain money from you in the name of charity. They take advantage of people who may want to donate for a good cause such as health crisis, natural calamities and other issues. They may in addition to asking for donations may also ask you to buy certain medicines.

As mentioned previously, always check the email of the sender. Is it free or has the individual actually put in the effort and the money to get a certified email? For charities, you may search the name to verify its existence and go to the website to check the official email of the organisation. 10/10 they don’t match.

Also, don’t be a simp for false testimonies of individuals who have supposedly been “cured” from that donation or medicines! Checking the internet for reviews on the products and verifying its existence is key but not the only way. There is a reason why people called “doctors” and “researchers” spend huge amounts of money and 5+ years studying – they exist so you may talk to them personally and make informed decisions about your health.